Slim shot of Elton Brand making it to Miami

He signed a lucrative offer sheet, and was on the beach when he checked his phone. There was a message telling him that Donald Sterling, the most frugal of NBA owners, had matched the offer to keep him with the Clippers. This led the Heat to sign a deal with Lamar Odom that Sterling wouldn’t match.

Brand is available again, sort of.

The 76ers, in a surprise move, chose to amnesty him in order to sign gunner Nick Young. That means Philadelphia will need to pay whatever remains of Brand’s 1-year, $18 million contract, after an amnesty waiver bidding process.

And that’s the issue for the Heat, which still values Brand and assuredly love to add him at the veteran minimum. He would give Miami a third frontcourt player to use in pick-and-pop situations, along with Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem — and thus, fulfill Pat Riley’s desire for another “big who needs to be guarded.”

Only teams under the cap can participate in that bidding process, similar to the situation with Chauncey Billups at the start of last season. So, once again, it is highly unlikely that Brand will slip all the way through. It will be worth it to some team to bid $3-4 million for his services, especially because his contract would come off the books next summer.